In addition to its high-flying heroes and world-ending threats, the Marvel Universe is home to a variety of vampires! With a history that predates the sinking of Atlantis, vampires are one of Marvel’s oldest races, and they’ve counted both terrifying villains and active members of the X-Men and the Avengers among their ranks. Get to know these bloodsucking stalkers of the night.
Marvel’s most famous vampire slayer. During Eric Brooks’ birth in 1929, his mother was bitten by a vampire, and Blade was subsequently born with half-vampire DNA. After he spent years hunting vampires like Dracula, Morbius transformed Blade into a Daywalker. Since joining the main Avengers team, Blade has played a key role in keeping Dracula and his resurgent Vampire Nation in line as the fledgling country’s sheriff.
Earlier this year, Bloodline, the daughter of Blade and Safron Caulder, debuted. Bloodline’s civilian name is Brielle, and she lives a seemingly normal life with her mom. In her first adventure, Brielle protected her friend Jayden from Eturnal, a vampire who lost a video game tournament. Thanks to her quick thinking, fighting skills, and a pair of silver bracelets, Brielle made short work of the vampire.
Dracula is Earth’s most powerful vampire and currently serves as their global leader. Previously, he enjoyed a violent reign as Transylvanian nobleman Vlad the Impaler; after he was injured, he became a vampire and quickly grew his status among his kind. Since his debut, Dracula has faced dozens of monster hunters and Super Heroes. He has also gained new powers thanks to an infusion of Wolverine’s blood.
After Doctor Strange became Sorcerer Supreme, his brother Victor was fatally wounded in a car wreck. In an effort to save him, Strange inadvertently turned Victor into a vampire! Victor then took on the Baron Blood identity and struggled to maintain his humanity before impaling himself with a wooden stake. As revealed in Infinity Comics series STRANGE TALES, Victor is watching the Marvel Universe from a mirror world.
In UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #159 by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, Storm was turned into a vampire, but she rejected Dracula and returned to normal. However, some variants of Ororo Munroe weren’t so lucky. In the alternate reality of “Mutant X,” Ororo became Bloodstorm, one of her chaotic world’s mutant heroes.
After learning he had a rare blood disease, Doctor Michael Morbius tried to treat himself with DNA from a vampire bat. However, this treatment gave him a monstrous appearance and a craving for blood! Although a scientific origin makes Morbius a “living vampire,” he has consistently struggled to control his bloodlust. Outside of the occasional rampage, he has evolved into an ally to heroes like Spider-Man and Blade.
Baron Blood has menaced Captain America and his allies with his vampiric powers for decades. Created by Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins, Lord John Falsworth was turned into a vampire by Dracula shortly before World War I. Despite his English heritage, Blood worked as a German agent in both World Wars and fought his brother James—better known as the hero Union Jack—as well as the Invaders.
Although Dracula has several children, his son Xarus has become one of his fiercest competitors and allies—but that wasn’t always the case. Xarus debuted as the leader of a vampire uprising that resulted in his father’s death. After Xarus failed to turn the X-Men to his side, the mutants resurrected Dracula, who killed Xarus. More recently, he appeared as the Shadow Colonel alongside the Legion of the Unliving.
While many heroes have temporarily been transformed into vampires, few have spent as much time among the undead as the X-Men’s Jubilee. During “The Curse of the Mutants” arc, Jubilee was infected by a vampire’s blood and turned by Xarus. With tech that let her operate in indirect sunlight, Jubilee spent years as a vampire, all while she befriended X-23, adopted the infant Shogo, and served on several X-Men teams.
Even though Hannibal King is a vampire, he is one of Blade’s closest allies. Created by Gene Colan and Marv Wolfman, King is a private investigator. After being bitten by a vampire, King vowed to never feed on a living human, relying on blood banks and animals instead. While fighting Dracula, King eventually met Blade, and the pair formed the Nighstalkers with vampire hunter Frank Drake.
Jacqueline Falsworth is the daughter of the original Union Jack. After being bitten by Baron Blood, she was transformed into a vampire, but went on to become the hero Spitfire thanks to a transfusion of the android Human Torch’s artificial blood. With a range of abilities including her signature super-speed, Spitfire joined the Invaders and even briefly dated Blade when both served with British organization MI-13.
While searching for the key to immortality, Deacon Frost accidentally injected himself with a vampire’s blood, which turned him into one of Marvel’s most dangerous villains. As his debut by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan revealed, he also had the unusual power to create doppelgängers of those he turned. He bit Blade’s mother and Hannibal King before unsuccessfully trying to usurp Dracula as Lord of the Vampires.
Under their leader Raizo Kodo, this vampire team—which primarily subsists on animal blood—was first assembled by creators Victor Gischler and Ryan Stegman, when they helped Dracula turn the tide against an Asgardian-enthralled Hulk.